On My Mind
by Sunshinegirl010
Summary: "Just an old sweet song keeps her on his mind." Ezra has been away from Rosewood for sixteen years, Aria's changed, but that doesn't mean his memory of her was any less clear. She forced him to leave before, it won't be so easy this time, especially when he discovers the secret she's been hiding from him since the day he left.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! So this is my new story! Yay! I hope you like it! It's unlike anything I've ever written before so… Wish me luck! And tell me your thoughts! Please! **

_-If the sky we look upon should tumble and fall… stand by me-_

Audrey walked through the front doors of her house, hearing the familiar sounds of some song from the fifties that her mother deemed her favorite. She smiled; _Mom must be working on something new_ Audrey thought to herself. Her mother always, for some reason unbeknownst to her, liked to listen to old music when starting new projects. She said that it inspired her, so anytime she was in her art studio working on a new piece; her mother would listen to the familiar CD with all of her personal favorites from fifties rock and roll and jazz.

Audrey swayed to the music as she walked through the main entrance and down the hallway by the stairs and poked her head into her mother's studio. Aria had her back facing her daughter not noticing she had a visitor. "Hey. Working hard or hardly working." Her mother turned towards her smiling at the regular banter. Audrey took in the familiar sites of her mother, looking at her beautiful face that was similar to hers, except that where her mother's brown eyes lay, Audrey had breath taking blue. Her long hair swept up in a bun with a head band that looked like a big bandana wrapped around her head. She noticed usual paint splatters that littered her clothing and smiled. She loved her mother's quirkiness.

"When did you get here?" Aria asked walking over to give her daughter a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Audrey smelled the recognizable scent of her mother, a mixture of paint and whatever perfume she wore. "A few minutes ago, are you working on something new?" Aria rolled her eyes and sighed looking over at the lump of clay that was waiting to be turned into something beautiful. "I'm trying to. Not really for any specific reason other than I just needed something to do."

Her mother looked up at her and wiped a piece of her hair out of her face. "So, how did your first day back at school go?" Audrey shrugged her shoulders.

"Same as always, tons of paper work to fill out and long lectures about how we should conduct ourselves for the rest of the year. Oh! We do have a new English teacher that seems promising." Her mother looked at her. "Really? What made him stand out so much?"

"Nothing in particular other than he just wasn't boring. You can really tell the guys genuinely interested in his job. He really has a love for literature." Aria nodded her head having returned to her work. "So you think you're going to like this guy?"

"Yea, I do. I think you'd really like him to." she said hinting. Aria looked up at her with a pointed look. "No." Audrey rolled her eyes. "Come on Mom. You can't tell me that you don't get lonely. I know that you do. And hey, he's fresh meat. Just moved here to Rosewood, or rather moved back."

Aria walked over to her daughter placing a hand on her shoulder and looked her straight in the eye."Honey, don't worry about me okay. I've managed for sixteen years on my own and I am just fine staying that way. Now why don't you just go upstairs and get dressed and we'll go grab a bite to eat."

Audrey breathed out a sigh, shaking her head at her mother. "I just want you to be happy is all." Her mother smiled. "I know. But I am happy. All I need is you. You and me babe; you and me." She smiled at the familiar words from her mother, but couldn't help but feel they were starting to sound a little rehearsed.

….

Aria watched as her daughter walked up the stairs to get dressed to go out. She sighed, almost a little sadly to herself. A lot had changed since she was Audrey's age. Hell, by the time she was a year older than her she had a child and no one to help her. At least no one that mattered. Telling Ezra had been out of the question, she'd burdened him enough as it was, she didn't need to give him more complications than he already had to put up with.

Her parents more than likely knew he was Audrey's father, although she had never come out and told them so. The only people that really knew who her father was , was herself and Spencer whom she told once right before she'd had Audrey.

After making the heart wrenching decision, Aria had convinced Ezra to take that job in New Orleans. It was the only way out, her parents would never accept them for what they were, no matter how much they begged and pleaded. She would be lying if she said –A hadn't been a deciding factor in her decision, as well as fear of what would happen to him if she didn't break up with him.

He'd told her that he would always love her and that he would keep in touch, but Aria hadn't allowed him to, and fell off of the face of the earth as far as he was concerned. Changed her address, her phone number and remained unlisted. Never allowing Ezra to find her or contact her again. Although she still held on to the letters he'd wrote her the whole first year of separation. Three hundred and Sixty-five letters, one for each day of that long first year they had spent apart. He sent them to her parent's house and every day Aria would be there faithfully at the mail box waiting on her letter.

Granted, she never read them, but still they were sitting in a chest in the attic with things from her high school years in case she ever decided to read them. She knew that as soon as she read the first word of something Ezra said she'd run back into his arms, crying and telling him she was sorry for sending him away.

Aria couldn't truthfully say that she never thought of Ezra Fitz. How could she not when she looked into the beautiful eyes of her daughter. She was the spitting image of him. She had his eyes, his laugh, his love for life and playfulness. Still, Audrey was a free spirit, much like her mother in many respects.

"Are you going to go eat like that?" asked Audrey as she came down the stairs. Aria looked down at her clothing that was smudge with paint and dried clumps of clay. "No, just give me a few minutes and we'll be ready to go."

She listened to the sound of her daughters laugh, so full of life just like her fathers. "Mom I don't know why you listen to this damn music. Are you going to ever be able to tell me why?" she smiled, remembering a memory.

"Maybe someday I'll be able to tell you." Audrey looked up at her mother standing halfway up the stairs quizzically; her mother just smiled, almost a little sadly, and went to get dressed.

….

_Aria laughed as she strolled through the apartment, gently gliding over the floors holding onto Ezra's arms as they danced playfully. Neither really knew what they were doing, but ever since they'd found his grand-mothers old record player and records they hadn't been able to stop listening to the catchy tunes of her childhood. _

_She laughed when Ezra once again tripped over her feet and his own and went flying onto the couch carrying her with him. He smiled and held her face between his hands. "How did I get so lucky?" she smiled and scoffed playfully. _

"_I would hardly call meeting me lucky. I'm pretty sure the way our relationship has turned out is the definition of unlucky." He shook his head and began to lightly trace her face with his kisses. "Don't ever say that. We're pretty damn lucky Aria. Not many people find what we have." _

_Aria smiled and kissed his lips tenderly and pulled back smirking playfully. She stood back up from the couch continuing to twirl him around the room without a care in the world. _

….

Aria and Audrey made it to _The Grille _just in time before the crowds began to come in. They were seated and ordered their drinks before scanning over their menus. "What are you going to get tonight?"

"Mom, why don't we ever talk about my dad?" Aria looked up from her menu and looked at her daughter. "I don't think that's on the menu." Audrey stared at her pointedly, telling her with her eyes that she wasn't going to let this go. Aria shivered, she looked like her father when she stared at her like that.

"This isn't the time or place to discuss this Audrey. What's even brought this up?" she watched as her daughter huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. Audrey shook her head trying to look anywhere but her mother. Aria could tell she wasn't entirely comfortable asking about this. "I don't know Mom, I just…I've always felt so shut out about Dad. I don't know who he was or what he looks like, I don't even know his name. Look, I understand that you have your reasons for not telling me, and I respect those. But, can't you accept the fact that I need to know?"

Aria sighed, not sure what to say. Her daughter of course made perfect sense and had probably been thinking out her little speech for quite some time. She always knew that the day would come that Audrey would demand answers about her father, but even in the sixteen years Audrey had been alive, Aria had never really fully prepared herself for the day.

"In my defense I have answered questions about your father. And I just…it's hard for me to talk about. But, someday Audrey. I promise, someday, you and I will sit down and talk about this. But I would appreciate it if you wouldn't bring it up right now. It's just not the right time."

Audrey shook her head and smiled, reaching across the table for my hand. "That's all I've ever wanted. As long as you promise to tell me at some point, I can deal with it." Aria smiled, when had her little girl grown up so much?

….

Aria sat at the table feeling completely stuffed. She knew to not order that shrimp, it did this to her every time she ordered it. Picking up the check Aria let her eyes scan the room, waiting for her daughter to get back from the bathroom. She looked at the familiar faces that she usually saw here at _The Grille,_ when suddenly she thought she saw a glimpse of a familiar face. _Surely not._ Aria thought to herself. The curly brown hair, the tall and solid stature, surely that wasn't Ezra she'd seen.

She just shook her head, she was seeing things. All this talk about him had just made her paranoid. Aria smiled when Audrey came back from the bathroom and placed a tip on the table. "Come on. Let's go home, okay?"

Audrey grabbed her coat and walked outside with her mother. She noticed Aria looking around, as if trying to see someone. "Who are you looking for?" her mother looked at her with raised eyebrows and shook her head, "Nothing, I just thought I saw something. Come on, we better hurry up and get home, you have school tomorrow."

Looking at her mother, Audrey almost asked what she was hiding, but after all that she'd asked her tonight she was afraid to. Her mother was the nicest person in the world until you started asking questions about the past. She could remember several occasions where she'd asked about her dad or what their relationship was like. Aria had looked at her and very seriously said that the past was the past, and there was no use talking about it.

She silently wondered what had made her mother so guarded. She didn't think that she was bitter about her father. Whenever she asked questions about what he was like, her mother would smile and tell her little tidbits about him. Like that his eyes were just like hers or that he loved to read and write, just like her. But this was her knowledge about him. Simply passing statements in times when her mother felt like talking about it.

Audrey decided to let it go and laced her mother's arm within her own as they continued down the street to their house.

…..


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone! How is your day? I hope it's going good…Anyway, here is your update! Thankyou to everyone who reviewed! Oh! And I wanted to tell you guys that read A Week in the Montgomery House that I am in the process of writing a new chapter for that! I've just…lacked inspiration lately! Anyway, please read and review! **

Ezra Fitz walked into the familiar classroom as a wave of nostalgia hit him. They'd assigned him to the exact classroom as before, with the same amount of desks, rows in the same order. His eyes immediately went to the third row over, fourth chair back. _Her desk_. The thought made him smile, gave him the feeling that he'd grown accustomed to when he thought of her. A mixture of happiness and longing that made him wonder whether or not he should smile or cry.

Sighing he began to organize his classroom, pulling out books and putting them under desks and the like. Deciding to come back to Rosewood had been a tough decision. He knew leaving the job he'd been at for nearly sixteen years was by far one of the stupidest things he'd ever done. He was taking a pay cut, as well as a setback in his amazingly forward career. But he'd grown so damn tired. Tired of questioning and the what ifs. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't question why he was there, he'd never been completely sure why he'd taken the job and left the only thing that truly made his life amazing.

So, he quit and came back to Rosewood, PA. It all ended up for the better anyway, his father had fallen ill and he wanted to be around if anything had become life threatening. So here he was, back in room 110 and apartment 3b on 5th street. He couldn't believe he'd been able to get the same apartment after all these years being away. But only one other person had lived in it and had just recently moved out making it open to move in.

He began to let his mind wander. Wondering if a Miss Aria Montgomery had come back to this small little town, or rather if she'd ever even left. He scoffed at the idea. Of course she'd left. Aria was so full of potential. She probably lived in New York now with two kids a husband and a best seller in the works. He wondered if she ever thought of him like he thought of her, if she ever thought of finding him like he thought about doing all the time. He knew he shouldn't think such things. She'd probably long ago forgotten him, and checked him off as something stupid she'd done in her youth. A mistake was all he was to her anymore.

Ezra looked at the room around him, soon to be filled with students on the following day, and sighed. At least his second first day at Rosewood Day wouldn't be as shocking as the last one. He thought to himself and silently laughed.

….

Sipping his morning coffee, Mr. Fitz walked from the teachers' lounge and into his classroom to prepare for first period. He wasn't sure what to expect. It'd been awhile since he'd stood in front of a classroom and _taught_. He was defiantly nervous, similar to his first day of teaching.

He began to write his name on the board and turned around when he saw the first few students file into his room. He smiled at each of them, nodding his head and telling them hello. He went to his desk to look for the paper work he needed them to fill out when the bell rang. He looked up and smiled, scanning across the room to look at their expectant faces.

Ezra froze when his eyes met, ironically, third row over, fourth chair back. A girl that had a striking resemblance to Aria sat looking at him with expectant eyes just like the rest. He shook his head and began to introduce himself.

"I'm Mr. Fitz your new English teacher." He began to tell them about the course, what books they would be reading, and the usual banter. Yet during his whole speech he couldn't help but to constantly look over at that girl. She had to be Aria's daughter; she looked too much like her. He would've mistaken her for her twin if it wasn't for the curly hair and the blue eyes.

Ezra picked up the role to look over the names, sure enough, and saw the name, _Audrey Montgomery. _He couldn't believe Aria would have a child this old, but shook his head and continued to pass out papers and telling the students about him and answering questions.

He nodded his head when Audrey's hand rose, signaling her to ask her question. "Where are you from Mr. Fitz?" he smiled, her voice even sounded like Aria's, just slightly raspier. "Ah, well, I was originally from around this area, even went to college at Hollis, but then got offered a job in New Orleans, so that's where I've been for the past few years." She smiled, a crooked one just like her mother, and nodded her head excepting this answer.

The kids continued to ask him questions about New Orleans and the course, when the bell suddenly rang. Ezra nodded to all the students and dismissed them. He watched as Audrey left the classroom, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Aria had a child. He wondered who her father was, he must not be present if Audrey took Aria's maiden name, so that meant she was more than likely not married.

Ezra began to think about Audrey, she had an amazing resemblance to her mother, but also had some other tint of familiarity; some of her features were strikingly the same as someone he knew, but couldn't place his finger on it.

Actually, when he began to think about it, the only way Aria could have a child that was sixteen was if she had a child when she was around seventeen or so and that meant…no. Surely not. Aria wouldn't do that, would she? He sat, shocked for a moment as more students began to pile into his classroom. He began to dig through the information sheets he'd had the last class fill out and found Audrey's and looked at her emergency contact, _Aria Montgomery. _Ezra blew out a breath racking his hands through his hair, before looking at Audrey's birthday. _December 15. _Ezra had left in April that year, so Aria was pregnant when he left.

Was she his? Of course Audrey was his, Aria wasn't sleeping around him. She just wasn't that type. As the bell rang for the next period to begin, Ezra couldn't help but let only one thought run through his head.

_Could he never just have a normal first day at Rosewood? _

….

After a long day of talking, Ezra's voice felt strained and tired. He silently wondered why he ever thought going back to teaching was a good idea. He walked up to _The grille _hoping he would be able to get his food and leave quickly so he could sit at home with a beer and think.

He knew thinking over the day's event would be impossible; he could barely process the fact that he could potentially have a daughter. Well really there was no possibility to it, he had a daughter, the circumstances were far too coincidental.

Ezra hadn't completely decided if he was angry at Aria. He knew he should be pissed. It wasn't right for Aria to have made that decision for him. Then again, it may have been a blessing. Aria's parents would have been less than thrilled to discover that she was pregnant, let alone pregnant by her ex-English teacher, the one person they hated more than anyone.

He also couldn't help but to be relieved. This was more than likely why Aria had refused to stay in touch with him, not because of something he did. He'd blamed himself over and over again when she wouldn't return the many letters he'd sent her.

Walking up the counter, Ezra asked for his food and stood there and waited. He looked around the familiar restaurant, recalling that Aria used to come here a lot with her friends. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of round face, plump lips, and a smile that could only be Aria's. She was with another girl, whom he couldn't see because her back was to him. He assumed it was Audrey.

Soon Ezra's food arrived and took it, thanking the waitress. He walked out into the warm August night, and began the short trek to his apartment. Trying to process everything he'd learned today, but failing miserably.

As he grabbed his keys to open his apartment door though, he'd made up his mind. He had to talk to Aria.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello! Sorry for how long it's been since I updated! But I am back and here is the next chapter for "On my Mind"! I hope you enjoy it…and be sure to tell me how much you enjoy it in a review! **

"So you'll never guess who I ran into at the supermarket the other day?" Aria looked quizzically at her mother with her eyebrows raised. "Who?"

"Ezra Fitz." Ella replied carefully, gauging her daughters reaction. Aria immediately gasped, her suspicions being confirmed. She thought that she'd seen him several times lurking around town. Mostly in the familiar spots she always saw him, the coffee shop, and the block around his apartment where he would go for jogs and ride his bicycle. She even thought the other day when driving down Fifth Street that she saw a flash of brown curly hair walking into that same familiar apartment building. But she just figured she was seeing things.

Nostalgia tended to hit her at times when she least expected it, making her yearn for her younger days when all she was worried about was finding good cover stories to make her many trips to Ezra's apartment possible. Sometimes she laughed at the things she'd gotten away with, the weekend trips they'd taken together, the midnight meetings when she awoke from her sleep and yearned to just feel the brush of his lips upon hers.

Never would she have guessed that her life would have ended up so twisted, complicated, and Ezra-less. She'd always assumed that in the end they would end up together. They were just that meant to be. _But you saw to it yourself that you and Ezra didn't' get your happy ending together. _She thought bitterly. There had been plenty of opportunities to reunite with him and she stubbornly hadn't taken them.

"So, why would that pertain to me?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders, trying to be indifferent about the situation. The last thing she wanted to do was open up that Pandora's box with her parents again.

"Well I remember correctly you two had quite a history together." Aria raised her coffee cup to her lips before replying. "Yes, sixteen years ago, when I was an adolescent, now there is nothing left between us."

"Not even Audrey?" Aria looked up to her mother in shock that she knew, and then felt ridiculous. Of course she knew, it wasn't that hard to figure out. Ezra was the only person that she slept with all throughout high school. And she didn't even start to date Jason until long after Audrey was born. Her parents knew she wasn't one to sleep around.

Aria remained silent, her coffee suddenly very interesting. "Aria? Are you okay?" she looked up and nodded slowly, keeping her eyes trained on her coffee. "I'm sorry honey, I shouldn't have-"

"Why is he back?" she interrupted suddenly not processing any of the words falling from her mother's lips. Ella sighed. "He's back teaching at the high school. He also said he's father has fallen ill and he wanted to be close."

"So he moved back here? Why not New York, where his parents live?" Ella looked at her daughter softly. "Now that he didn't tell me. Look, all I know is,- is that he is back at the high school, where Audrey is, and we both know the he's her father, whether or not you told me, and they are both smart people, and will figure it out before too long. I just wanted you to be prepared, honey. The last thing you want is for Audrey to get hurt."

Aria sniffled, trying to not let herself cry anymore over Ezra. She'd done enough of that. She placed her head in her hands, elbows on the table, shaking her head slightly. "Why does everything pertaining to him have to be so damn complicated? I never get to just make a black or white decision. There are always a million other problems that come along as baggage with any choice I make."

"What are you talking about Aria?" she looked up at her mother, before replying.

"I want Ezra to know about Audrey, I do. I think he has every right to know and I feel awful about keeping this from him. One of the constellations I always gave myself was that I would never see him again and neither would she, but now he's back. But if I tell him he's going to be angry with me and so is Audrey, you know she will. She gets angry at you and you could die of frost bite."

Ella sighed and placed her hand on her daughters, rubbing her thumb over the top. "Look, whatever decision you make, just make sure it's the right one for Audrey." Aria nodded and let the silent tears she'd been holding back, fall.

….

"Okay, everyone I will need these book reports back by Monday. So if you haven't started then you have all weekend or at least Sunday night." A murmured laugh fell over the class as Audrey raised her hand. "Yes, Aria-uh…" he shook his head correcting himself. "Audrey." She lowered her hand and shook her head, saying never mind, as he mentally kicked himself. Why did he call her Aria? She had the most striking resemblance to her mother, it was almost unreal.

The bell rang and Ezra dismissed the class before him, asking Audrey to stay behind. "I apologize for that. It was just a slip of the tongue." She squinted her eyes quizzically before smiling.

"It's okay. Do you know my Mom?" Ezra shook his head before answering, "No-well, yes, I knew of your mother when I lived here in Rosewood before. You share a resemblance with her and I-I just slipped up."

"Ahh," she said smiling tilting her head back as she did so. "Okay, well I do want to ask you one thing."

"Anything."

"Would you mind helping me with my scholarship essays sometime? I haven't started writing them yet, but I will in about a month or so. If you could just review them and the like for me that would be great." He nodded, slightly wondering why she didn't just have her mother review them for her, knowing the literary fanatic she was, or used to be. He realized that he really didn't know Aria anymore.

"I would be more than happy to." Audrey smiled. "Thank you Mr. Fitz" she said before silently stalking out the door of his class room.

….

Audrey came home to her mother looking out the window with a coffee in her hand. She saw another cup that rested on the island, and wondered who'd been by to visit. "Hey Mom." Aria jumped and looked over to her daughter, wiping her tear stained face with her left hand.

"Hey Audrey." She sniffled, "I was just about to start supper. What do you want?" Audrey looked her mother over for a second, trying to figure out what was wrong. Had who'd ever been to visit that day upset her? "Are you okay?"

Aria walked across the kitchen, not meeting Audrey's gaze as she did so. If she did, Aria knew there was a possibility that she might break down and cry again like she had all afternoon since her mother left. She knew that keeping this a secret for much longer was not going to be an option; she just simply didn't know how to go about the situation.

If she told Audrey, there would be back lash, she knew this much, but how would Ezra react? Would he even want anything to do with Audrey? And if he did, how would they even begin to go about getting to know each other? Would Audrey even want to know her father?

_Of course she will_. Especially with her knew found interest in asking about her dad. She opened the refrigerator and tried to find something to fix, but as usual there wasn't anything to make. "I'm fine honey. Just a few projects that I'm a little overwhelmed on, nothing to worry about. So I guess it will either have to be spaghetti or pizza that I order." She looked over to Audrey, "What'll it be?"

Audrey answered pizza, and Aria picked up the phone, ordering it and going to the living room to lounge on the couch until their dinner got there. Audrey followed her mother, not sure what to make of her mood, before falling onto the couch next to her mom. She cuddled into her side, and Aria ran her hand over Audrey's hair lovingly as she laid her head on her shoulder.

"I worry about you mom."

"I know."

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, looking up to her mother. Mr. Fitz was right, they do share a striking resemblance.

Aria gave her a kiss on the head, "I'm fine." Audrey let the silence of the house and the mummer of the T.V. fall over them before whispering, "Okay."


End file.
